Quoted from dung:They are a collectible. You have a highly complicated and very large toy. It requires special skills that are expensive to pay for or a large investment in time and money (tools) to maintain. Add in that there is an age band that has an interest in it. IE those of us that played in arcades, most of which died off over before 2000 or shortly thereafter. Eventually these things will drop in value. Might take awhile, but anyone who banks on the value is a fool.
Most pinballs do drop in price, just not like cars though, and no one invests in pinball either. So let's clarify those things up front.
If you put 100 hours into fixing a pin - you love doing it. So the time put in is not a drain on those people at all. It is a passion. If you think pinball is expensive you need to try other hobbies like boating, car collecting, paintball, skiing or golf. Perhaps pay an 20% auction fee + sales tax to buy a toy, stamp, or baseball card at auction. 20% sellers fee is paid also. Pinball is cheap compared to other hobbies.
True - If you could not sleep at night if your pins fell 50% in value in one year, you should sell a few and start an emergency fund instead.
I would say the ages of pin players is 25-65. The owners are a small segment right now and growing every year. The main problem is people do not know they can actually own these things. When they do find someone to help them, like you or I, they get hooked. So I say as long as people like you and I are into it pinball will be here for a long time.